Hark! A tale of woe and cosmic struggle!

Last night, alas, a fog descended upon mine addled brain, leading to a blunder of epic proportions. Word reached me this morn, leaving me aghast. Forgive me, gentle readers, for I, a humble scribe, burdened by nocturnal vigil and a physique most generous, hath erred. Fear not, for the misdeed is righted. Your coin is secure, and a mere refresh will unveil the newly wrought chapter.

Again, I offer my sincerest apologies.

Then, with a fury born of celestial depths, Wang Lin unleashed his rage in a single stride. His right foot descended, resonating through the very fabric of creation. In that moment, his form transcended the imaginable, the step a defiant march towards the heavens.

The world lay prostrate beneath his feet, its denizens but motes of dust. Rules and laws, the very essence of existence, crumbled before the immensity of that single stride.

The sky itself shattered, rent asunder by fissures of impossible scale. The heavens, once whole, became a tempest of collapsing fragments, forever altered!

*Tenkoku!*

As Wang Lin’s foot struck true, and his gaze lifted skyward, the earth itself convulsed!

Sun and moon faltered, rivers and oceans dissipated into nothingness, the ancient world, forged of primordial chaos, dissolved into utter oblivion.

Gu Dao staggered, a crimson tide erupting from his lips. He retreated, buffeted by the force, until he stood, pale and shaken, a hundred paces distant.

“The Realm of Transcendent Ascension! A complete and utter attainment!” Awe and disbelief wrestled within his eyes as he beheld Wang Lin, the power emanating from him like a nascent godhead.

Wang Lin stood amidst the ruins of creation, the cataclysm a mere phantom. He closed his eyes, a long moment passing before they fluttered open, carrying with them a deep and lingering sorrow. He raised his head, regarding the restored heavens with an aching gaze.

“Thou hast traversed the Seventh Bridge of Trials,” Gu Dao spoke, a measure of time having passed, his voice heavy with contemplation.

“The Seventh,” Wang Lin affirmed, his eyes closing again, “and failed upon the Eighth.”

“The Seventh…” Gu Dao chuckled mirthlessly. He fixed Wang Lin with a knowing stare, for he had sensed the intent of the heavens contained within that cataclysmic step. A resolve born of conviction, far beyond his own reach.

“Perhaps I am powerless to hold thee,” Gu Dao sighed, then, his resolve hardening, he continued with steely determination, “Yet, I cannot surrender thusly. I have spent my very being perfecting a single art, a celestial edict!

“I name it *Dao Tian*, for it embodies my life’s conviction. I may not possess the might of the Ancestor, but my beliefs diverge!

“His ambition lay in becoming one with the cosmos, a goal that binds him to this ancestral land. He deems the lands of the Xian, unformed by his hand, a realm of hatred.

“Mine is to eclipse the sky, to unbind my gaze, to traverse the earth with unwavering purpose, to unshackle my heart from the illusions of the world!

“*Dao Tian!* I wield my heart as my guide, my path is one of defying the heavens, using it as a stepping-stone! A celestial vista beyond the horizon.” Gu Dao raised his hands, sweeping them towards the heavens.

The sky roared, a gargantuan vortex manifesting, encompassing the entirety of the Barren Basin, a harbinger of impending doom. Gu Dao’s right hand lashed out, a single finger aimed at Wang Lin.

“Thou art the Heaven!” Gu Dao roared, his voice a thunderous pronouncement, filled with an unwavering conviction. Under the force of his finger, ripples warped the air surrounding Wang Lin. He lifted his head, a sense of foreboding washing over him, and saw a colossal foot descending from the heart of the vortex, aiming to crush him!

For the first time in two centuries, Wang Lin felt the icy touch of death. Each who had reached the Realm of Transcendent Ascension possessed unmatched power. Wang Lin had grasped the essence of the Transcendent Step from a familiar figure, but Gu Dao, through a lifetime of ingenuity and unyielding conviction, had created his own transcendent art!

“All beings strive to ascend, failing only for lack of conviction, for lack of courage…” These words, etched upon the Eighth Bridge of Trials, echoed in Wang Lin’s mind, spoken during his second visit.

As he gazed upon Gu Dao, he comprehended. Within all things, be they mortal or beast, even the essence of spirit, there resided the yearning to transcend.

As he had answered Li Qianmei’s three questions in the Domain of the Caverns, “The universe is but a circle, and beyond that circle, there are more…”

“Few are born without ambition, each being seeks distinction, yearning for freedom, for a mind unbound. Mortal laws are shackles, poverty and wealth, the mundane middle path, are rings of restraint. The very universe is a cage…”

“The cosmos, with its starry expanse, is but another prison!

“To break free, to shatter the chains, to ascend to the heavens and stride among the stars, to transcend the shackles of existence and behold the truth of the cosmos – such is the true meaning of enlightenment, the ultimate quest!”

Wang Lin muttered, gazing at the descending celestial foot. A glimmer of understanding dawned within him!

“Birth and Death, Cause and Effect, Mimicry…”

“Life and death are the threads, woven together into countless circles, forming a vast net called Causality. With it, one may pull the true self from the River of Samsara, where truth and illusion blend. One must possess eyes that can pierce the veil, cast the net, and reclaim oneself.”

“My Void Source, upon reaching the heights of Illusion and Reality within the Eastern Serene Sect, led me to understand Rebirth as a fourth Void Source, though centuries have passed, and I cannot fully grasp its nature.”
What is Reincarnation? I once believed it was a force of law, governing this life and the next. But then came the enigmatic Daoist Master Gu, whose words, for reasons unknown, hinted that Wan’er’s true resurrection required wielding the power of Reincarnation within the Ancient God Realm.

At that time, I was bewildered. What was this power of Reincarnation? I still clung to the notion that it was some celestial rule, a principle of the universe…

But now, at last, I understand… Reincarnation *is* the Heavens! With the karmic web in my hands, I cast it skyward, seeking to ensnare my true self, to retrieve my authentic being!

“So… that is the meaning…” Wang Lin’s mind reeled. These thoughts surfaced in an instant, filling every corner of his consciousness, occupying the pinnacle of his spirit.

In that moment, he understood!

Within his very being, a wisp of power had been added to the original three sources of his essence. This wisp, it was the Reincarnation he had comprehended!

“So it is…” Wang Lin murmured. Above him, the colossal foot descended, less than a hundred yards away. But then, within that thunderous roar, an ethereal sound, a sound of wind, pierced through, echoing across the heavens.

It was the Song of the Ancient Veins! The first note of the Nine Harmonies. After that first note, the second, the third, and so on, until the ninth, emerged in succession. They were the songs of Heaven, Earth, Wind, Thunder, **臟** (Organs), Body, and finally, the song of Bloodline!

From this world, from Wang Lin’s body, from the firmament itself, the harmonies resonated, astonishingly.

The descending foot seemed to slow under the influence of the Nine Harmonies. The music’s exquisite beauty defied description, encircling the world and radiating in all directions.

As the Nine Harmonies reached their crescendo, an Image manifested in the sky!

Golden Heaven, Black Earth!

A golden sky and a black earth, ethereal, unreal, yet clearly visible to Wang Lin, and seen by the venerable Gu Dao, whose heart trembled.

As this first Image appeared, silver light shone in Wang Lin’s eyes – an endless light, the second Image!

Nine Harmonies, Three Images! Wang Lin first conjured them upon the path of Gu Dao, but they were incomplete, missing a harmony and an image!

In the imperial palace of the Daoist kingdom, he summoned them a second time. The Nine Harmonies were complete, but the Three Images remained lacking!

And now, here, in the heart of the desolate basin, beside the storming sea wall, as the Daoist Venerable Gu Dao’s Heaven-Shattering Strike descended, the Nine Harmonies and Three Images appeared for the third time!

Yet even now, on this third occasion, while the Nine Harmonies were whole, the third Image eluded him, as if something were still missing, a crucial piece yet to be found!

Wang Lin raised his head, his gaze not fixed on the foot hovering a mere hundred yards away, but penetrating through the spell, piercing the void beyond the sky.

His mind was now clear, and a revelation washed over him. He knew what he still lacked.

“Void, Clone, descend completely, and merge with me!” What he needed was the birth and acceptance from the Void, just like the Ancient Ancestor and Immortal Ancestor before him.

At the instant his words echoed forth, within the void of the Immortal Astral Continent, a place teeming with laws, a colossal circular stone contained a figure seated in meditation. For centuries, perhaps even a millennium, he had remained there.

Now, as if hearing a call, he abruptly opened his eyes, revealing a brilliant light. His features were identical to Wang Lin’s. He was Wang Lin’s Void Clone!

The moment he opened his eyes, the stone that encased him exploded, shattering into countless curved fragments like the shell of an egg. The figure stood and stepped forward, vanishing without a trace.

In the desolate basin of the Immortal Astral Continent, beside the storming sea wall, as Wang Lin’s voice faded, a figure emerged from the vortex where the foot threatened to fall.

The figure took a third step, and before the eyes of the shocked Gu Dao, walked up to Wang Lin and merged into his body.

As they became one, Wang Lin roared skyward, a sound that shook the heavens. The echoes morphed into an unearthly sound, a chorus of infant cries!

Those cries reverberated across the land, permeating the desolate basin and reaching the Ancient Clan’s land. Cracks simultaneously appeared on the three statues of the Ancient Ancestor within the imperial city.

The cries reached the Immortal Clan’s land, and a similar fissure appeared on the statue of the Immortal Ancestor within the ancestral city.

On the Ancient Clan’s land, countless earth veins erupted, coalescing into a colossal figure – the Ancient Ancestor! On the Immortal Clan’s land, the earth’s energy gathered, forming the second figure in the Immortal Astral Continent – the Immortal Ancestor!

These two figures remained unseen by ordinary eyes, perceptible only to Great Venerables.

In the desolate basin, a third figure suddenly materialized, transcending both Immortal and Ancient, and soaring into the sky!

“Nine Harmonies, Three Images… the third Image is the Cry of the Infant…” Gu Dao murmured.